In 1977 the Kent State University Administration
announced its decision to construct a Gym annex on the site where some of the events of
May 4 1970 occurred. On May 4 of that year about 200 students occupied the
administrative building in Rockwell Hall in order to express their dismay with this
decision. During the eight hour occupation the students drafted a set of demands related
to the proposed gym construction and formed an organization which they called the
May 4 Coalition.

From the moment the bullets struck the bodies of
the 13 Kent State students on May 4, 1970, the truth about what really happened that day
and its meaning for subsequent generations have been a constant point of contention
on the Kent State campus. In 1971 the state of Ohio had convened a grand jury on the
events and issued a report exonerating the Ohio National Guard for killing 4 students and
wounding nine others, while indicting 24 Kent students and 1 professor for their alleged
criminal activities on May 4. The battle over the truth about May 1970 was in full swing
and the proposed construction was viewed as one more means to obscure the truth by
altering the May 4 site. On May 12 of 1977 May 4 Coalition members and supporters occupied
the proposed construction site and set up a Tent City.

The ensuing struggle lasted almost 2 years
and involved hundreds of people from around the country. Tent City lasted over 60
days and ended only after the forced removal and arrest of 193 people. Tent City and
the efforts to prevent construction of the gym annex gained national notoriety and legal
battles were even taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. Although the gym
annex was eventually constructed, the gym struggle proved an invaluable tool in
preserving the truth about May 1970.

The May 4 Task Force, a student run university
organization, has carried on the tradition of those who took part in the gym
protests of the 1970s. They have kept up the battle for the truth over the years since.
Each year they organize the annual
commemoration on May 4. Many of those who took part in
the gym struggle have returned over the years to attend these commemorations.
However people's lives grow more complicated and time to travel to Kent diminishes.

We have lost contact with many
individuals who partook in the gym struggle.